Cotton sowing to pick up pace in Gujarat and Maharashtra

Although the early onset of monsoon is proving beneficial for bountiful harvests, major cotton-growing regions of “Gujarat and Maharashtra is yet to pick up sowing pace,” said a senior official at a leading BT cotton seeds company.

Cotton is one of the major kharif crops and farmers have started sowing seeds in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

“Unlike last year, when a delayed monsoon had spoiled the party for seed companies, this year, we expect demand to exceed estimates. Early sowing has cleared most of the cotton seed inventory. Cotton seed demand is robust in parts of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh," said a senior National Seed Association of India (NSAI) official.

Last year, Indian seed companies had sold about 42 million packets (of 450 g each) of cotton seeds.

“The season has just begun; we expect the demand for cotton seeds to meet the demand seen last year,” said the senior official.

In Gujarat, one of the largest cotton-growing states, cotton sowing was carried out on 5,02,000 hectares during June 1-17, a 107 per cent rise compared to the previous year.